


Night of the Droods

by Jayalaw



Category: The Wizards of Once - Cressida Cowell
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-26 01:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18173951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jayalaw/pseuds/Jayalaw
Summary: BOOK 2 SPOILERS. So how did Xar end up locked up, and how easy was it for him to be stolen away?





	Night of the Droods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Acacia_Wishes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acacia_Wishes/gifts).



Xar, Boy of Destiny, had many aspects that people could dislike. His ego, for one; he insisted that his friends call him a Boy of Destiny. He believed that the world would bow to him, warriors and wizards alike, once he discovered his potential and proved to his father that he had magic. 

Caliburn, Xar's crow familiar, lamented over Xar's tactlessness and lack of thinking things through. The boy wanted glory and greatness, as he believed he was owed, but he always wanted to take the dangerous path towards what he thought the world owed him. That's why Xar had a green witch-stain on his arm, one that no soap or knife could peel off even with the toughest efforts.

The Droods came on an evening when Xar was trying to see if he could enchant wood to talk. He was testing his power and trying to do lessons without his Spelling Book. Caliburn was attempting to teach him, half-heartedly. Xar's followers -- five sprites and three hairy fairies-- were watching with curiosity. They kept the guard out.  

"No good can come from using that magic, Xar," the raven said, losing so many feathers. They sailed from his body to the ground, in a pile of worry. "You know better." 

Xar was not listening. He focused his attention on the wood that he was trying to infuse with life. A few months ago, a girl his age had done it, only she was a Warrior. He had offered for her to join the wizards, only she had declined because her mother would know that she was missing.

"So how did Wish do it?" he was muttering. "Did she have some enchantment!"

The wood was not behaving. It was not coming to life. It currently had red spikes that were moving back and forth, and it had two round yellow knobs that could be eyes. But it was not exact

"Hssst!" The sprite Ariel said.

"Xar, son of Encanzo!"

Xar did not jump in surprise. Boys of Destiny did not show they were terrified. Instead the magic he was using misfired into the wood, making it jump into the air as if he had swatted it. The wood landed with a soft  _ clop _ . 

"Yes?" he asked, trying to hide his annoyance. "Do you mind? I'm in the middle of magic practice." 

The Droods rarely approached this part of the woods. They had their own prison, their own practices. The Drood Commander was tall, old and thin, with withered skin and a curved nose. He reminded Xar of trees that had gotten rot in them but refused to fall over and die. 

"We have sensed Witch magic!" The Drood Commander said. "In this part of the kingdom!" 

Xar paled. He put the hand with the telltale witch stain behind his back. If he could slip on his leather glove, which was on the ground, then no one would be the wiser.

“We followed the scent of witch blood,” the Drood Commander went on. “It came from this camp. Under martial law, we must investigate.”

“Hang on a sec,” Xar protested. “My father and brother are away on a trip. You can’t come in here without their permission.”  

The sprites seemed to sense what the issue was. Ariel slipped to the ground to get the glove and crawled up Xar’s back.    
“We can,” the Drood Commander said. “I have declared magical martial law. We cannot wait for your father to return, and he didn’t even seem to notice the mark on your hand.”

Xar froze. Caliburn choked, and more feathers flew off his bottom. 

“What?” Xar asked, trying his most convincing;y innocent tone. The Droods surrounded him,m staffs aimed. 

The Drood Commander marched forward and seized Xar’s arm. He ripped off the glove, and Ariel with it. The sprite yelled as the Drood Commander tossed it carelessly. The witch stain glowed eerily. 

“Ah-ha!” he said, with a mix of spite and horror. “I knew it would be you, the most disobedient wizard boy!” 

“Help!” Xar called. The sprites and fairies moved to wrench Xar free. Unfortunately, the Drood Commander chanted a few words, and the magical beings froze mid-air.`` 

“Stop, please,” Caliburn said. “Xar made a mistake, but he’s only a boy. Gormincrag is not ”

“Gormincrag?!” Xar cried.    
“You can’t send him there!” Caliburn shouted. “The prison is no place for him! Encanzo will not stand for it!” 

“He will,” the Drood Commander said. “He must-OW!”

Xar pulled away, mouth twisting at how the Drood Commander’s wrist had tasted. His legs moved to run, and his lips parted to scream. 

The boy didn’t get the chance. Another Drood muttered a quick spell, and Xar stiffened. His limbs froze, and when he tried to make a sound, they tossed a sack over his head. Manacles clicked around his arms. 

“What a very disobedient boy,” The Drood Commander said, rubbing his bitten arm with distaste. “Encanzo will be thanking us when this is done. Bring the sprites and the raven. We can’t have them spreading discourse.”

Caliburn was already flying, meaning to call for help. Another freezing spell caught him, ripped off the last of his tail-feathers, and he sank down, down into the night. 

“You can’t do this!” he shouted. “This threatens war!”

In response, they shove him into a sack as well. Caliburn yelped as they jostled him around. Xar kept struggling. The sack muffed his cries. 

The Droods grabbed all the sprites. Squeezjoos whimpered as his tiny, trusting face met burlap. Then the Droods marched. Their feet made no sound.The silence spread over like a suffocating blanket. 

They walked out, leaving the enchanted wood. It sat in the moonlight like a forgotten caterpillar, left to fend for itself with spines. When the Wizard guards found it in the morning, they would be very confused. But they would follow the Droods’ footprints, until they vanished into the woods. 


End file.
